Newswise \u2014 Mercouri Kanatzidis, a professor at Northwestern University with a joint appointment as a materials scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from\u00a0ETH\u00a0Zurich, one of the world\u2019s leading institutions for science and technology. This honor recognizes Kanatzidis\u2019 extensive contributions to solid-state chemistry and materials science.<\/p>\n
\u201cProfessor Mercouri Kanatzidis is one of the most influential solid-state chemists of our time,\u201d said Christophe Cop\u00e9ret, head of the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences at\u00a0ETH\u00a0Zurich,\u00a0in a statement<\/a>.\u00a0\u200b\u201cThrough his curiosity and persistence, he has discovered new types of functional materials and transformed fundamental discoveries into important technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n The honorary degree was conferred on November 22, 2025, during\u00a0ETH\u00a0Day, an annual event at\u00a0ETH\u00a0Zurich that highlights the university\u2019s achievements and recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to science and society.<\/p>\n \u201cI am truly humbled by this honor,\u201d said Kanatzidis.\u00a0\u200b\u201cI am grateful for this recognition of the impact of our work, and I share it with the many students, postdoctoral fellows and collaborators around the world whose talent and commitment have driven it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Kanatzidis is widely recognized for his pioneering research in thermoelectric materials and perovskite photovoltaics. His work on high-performance thermoelectrics has advanced the conversion of waste heat into electricity, addressing critical energy challenges. His contributions to perovskite materials have led to innovations in radiation detection and new energy technologies, with practical applications in medical imaging, environmental monitoring and beyond.<\/p>\n Kanatzidis\u2019 achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He has authored more than 1,600 scientific publications, which have collectively garnered nearly 98,000 citations. He has also mentored more than 200 doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers.<\/p>\n Kanatzidis earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in chemistry from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Iowa. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan and Northwestern before joining the faculty at Michigan State University, where he served as a professor for nearly two decades. In 2006, he joined Argonne and Northwestern, where he has continued to advance materials research.<\/p>\n ETH\u00a0Zurich, established in 1855, is internationally renowned for its contributions to science and engineering. The university has been home to numerous Nobel laureates and distinguished scientists, including Albert Einstein, who studied and taught there.<\/p>\n Argonne National Laboratory<\/a>\u00a0seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology by conducting leading-edge basic and applied research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne is managed by\u00a0UChicago Argonne,\u00a0LLC<\/a>\u00a0for the\u00a0U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Science.<\/a><\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Science\u00a0is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit\u00a0https:\/\/\u200bener\u200bgy\u200b.gov\/\u200bs\u200bc\u200bience<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newswise \u2014 Mercouri Kanatzidis, a professor at Northwestern University with a joint appointment as a materials scientist at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9530,9531,10004,3404,10003,393,9529,10005,9528,51],"class_list":{"0":"post-13693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-zurich","8":"tag-we-are-argonne","9":"tag-argonne-national-laboratory","10":"tag-budgets-and-funding","11":"tag-chemistry","12":"tag-doe-science-news-source","13":"tag-energy","14":"tag-energy-technology-and-storageenergy-consumption-and-efficiencymaterials-science-and-engineering","15":"tag-materials-science","16":"tag-newswise","17":"tag-zurich"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}